Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

NoFap (concept) 5 — Online community promoting abstinence from masturbation, criticized for circlejerking and culty mindset despite some adh...

George Harrison (person) 5 — Beatles member whose status as 'the best Beatle' has become a mainstream rather than contrarian opinion, known for solo ...

A Clockwork Orange (film) 5 — Stanley Kubrick film referenced by Robin Thicke during the Blurred Lines deposition comparing his discomfort to the film...

Yorgos Lanthimos (person) 5 — Film director of Poor Things, criticized for creating a preachy, ideologically confused movie that depicts the protagoni...

Buenos Aires (place) 5 — City that the author's father wanted to visit instead of going to Disney parks.

Ethan Klein (person) 5 — Host of H3 Podcast, described as 'the most soy man' who appears to discuss Red Scare-adjacent topics like seed oils and ...

Unit 731 (concept) 5 — A covert biological and chemical warfare research unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that conducted lethal human experim...

TwoXChromosomes (place) 5 — A Reddit subreddit described as being filled with "insane hateful women" in discussion of mental illness and identity po...

Muse (person) 5 — A band whose album Black Holes and Revelations is criticized on revisit as sounding nasally and having sterile productio...

YouTube Shorts (concept) 5 — Short-form video format used by the Harris campaign with attention-grabbing split-screen content to target Gen Z and Alp...

Normandy (place) 5 — Site of D-Day beaches in France, referenced in connection with reflecting on World War II after watching Band of Brother...

Antifa (concept) 5 — Anti-fascist movement mocked through an anecdote of a college student claiming to be a 'card carrying member' who fights...

Shoegaze (concept) 5 — A music genre described as 'stylistically inbred' with post-millennial bands heavily derivative of earlier acts like My ...

UCLA (place) 5 — University whose acceptance rate plummeted from 25% in 2010 to 6% currently, exemplifying increased college admissions c...

Altoona (place) 5 — Pennsylvania town where Luigi Mangione was allegedly identified at a McDonald's following an anonymous tip that the post...

r/chapotraphouse (place) 5 — Former subreddit referenced as an example of a leftist space that became increasingly liberal and mainstream over time, ...

Norman Rockwell (person) 5 — American artist known for paintings like Little Girl Looking Downstairs at Christmas Party (1964)

Toxic Masculinity (concept) 5 — A form of masculinity depicted in The White Lotus as consistently rewarded with success, romantic relationships, and soc...

Pilates (concept) 5 — Exercise method focused on building lean muscle and strength, discussed as an alternative to cardio and calorie-restrict...

Crumbl Cookies (place) 5 — Cookie chain criticized as deified slop stemming from the normalization of the midwestern mind alongside the Savannah Ba...

Tyler Robinson (person) 5 — Individual listed among people connected to mass violence or tech leadership in a post suggesting a common thread.

Autogynephilia (concept) 5 — A sexological theory involving sexual arousal from the thought or image of oneself as a woman, discussed in context of m...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (album) 5 — Post-rock band whose concert at University of Chicago cathedral was attended in a story about strip club experiences

Gaspar Noé (person) 5 — Film director known for provocative cinema, invoked as hypothetical director of an even more excessive version of Limitl...

Lauryn Hill (person) 5 — Musician whose album Miseducation is discussed as a guaranteed inclusion in Pitchfork's top 90s albums list.

Alex G (person) 5 — Indie musician referenced as emblematic of performative coolness in local music scenes

PBR (album) 5 — Pabst Blue Ribbon beer referenced as a cultural signifier of early 2000s hipster aesthetic that appropriated white worki...

Angelina Jolie (person) 5 — Actress referenced as an example of an otherworldly beauty that women love without insecurity.

Gooning (concept) 5 — Contemporary term for excessive pornography consumption discussed as an escalation of prior behaviors like binge-watchin...

Adult Swim (place) 5 — Television network that contacted an obscure musician/animator to make 20-minute episodes, which he declined because he ...

Pfizer (place) 5 — Pharmaceutical company that manufactures both COVID vaccines and hemorrhoid cream, humorously connected by a poster

Kansas City Chiefs (concept) 5 — NFL team with Native American imagery (arrowhead logo) discussed in context of forgotten debates about racist stereotype...

Solaris (film) 5 — A contemplative science fiction film by Andrei Tarkovsky that a six-year-old found boring, representing challenging cine...

Stalker (film) 5 — Tarkovsky film about three men traveling to a mysterious Zone containing a Room that allegedly fulfills desires, describ...

Playboy (concept) 5 — Magazine whose shoots from 2008 a user nostalgically searched for as part of their adolescent sexual awakening, leading ...

Marlon Brando (person) 5 — Legendary actor whose mannerisms Ryan Gosling autistically copied to develop a tougher-sounding accent

Stavros (person) 5 — A comedian who used to be on a podcast associated with Matty Healy, discussed as potentially facing future cancellation.

The Washington Post (place) 5 — Liberal media outlet mentioned alongside NPR and MSNBC as making certain Americans cannot escape the news cycle theater.

Mindy Kaling (person) 5 — Indian-American actress and writer referenced as making culturally specific content recognizable to Indian audiences.

Eddie Murphy (person) 5 — Actor and comedian who repeatedly hired John Landis as director despite Landis treating him poorly.

Barbra Streisand (person) 5 — Singer and actress who prompted discussion about whether the subreddit has a disproportionate Jewish demographic based o...

Lil Uzi Vert (person) 5 — Rapper who was found guilty of domestic assault in 2022 but whose career continued without significant impact, discussed...

Daniel Penny (person) 5 — Man involved in the death of Jordan Neely on NYC subway, discussed in context of public transportation safety and divide...

Full Metal Jacket (film) 5 — Kubrick film about Vietnam War that McKinsey employees allegedly had not heard of, used as example of their lack of cult...

Rust Cohle (person) 5 — Character referenced for nihilistic quote 'fuck this world, man' in context of despair over geopolitical atrocities.

Pixar (place) 5 — Animation studio whose movies have changed pacing drastically over two decades, becoming constant sensory overload for c...

Bo Burnham (person) 5 — Comedian and performer whose Netflix special addressed pandemic topics similar to redscare discourse but was still consi...

Niccolò Machiavelli (person) 5 — Renaissance political philosopher and author of The Prince, defended against interpretations of his work as satire and c...

USPS (place) 5 — The United States Postal Service, described as having cultural cachet as a Rockwellian institution compared to private d...

Boy Meets World (film) 5 — 90s TV show featuring awkward protagonist Cory Matthews with themes of acceptance and self-worth, contrary to the idea t...